ONE of Al Capone’s rigged roulette wheels, used to fix games and rob gamblers, has been uncovered after being dismantled for restoration.

Alexander Walder-Smith, from Guildford, bought it in Iowa from a man who had stored it in a barn for decades, and later discovered the table’s secret.

The rare gambling table was almost certainly built for a mafia gambling den at the height of prohibition in the late 1920s.

Capone used the table to swindle gamblers at his casinos

It was fitted with hidden buttons that interrupted the spin of the ball, allowing crooked croupiers to fix games.

Mr Walder-Smith said: “I just thought it was a very nicely made roulette table from the 1920s or 1930s. It was only when my restorer called to say he’d found batteries that we realised there was anything unusual.”

The restorer discovered a series of concealed wires leading to two push buttons disguised as screw heads.

When activated, two tiny pins shot out which could guide the ball towards a particular number or colour.

Mr Walder-Smith added: “I haven’t found anyone who has even seen of these rigged tables although they have heard of them. It would have been almost impossible to spot without taking the table to pieces.

The restorer discovered a series of concealed wires leading to two push buttons

“The batteries were concealed in one of the legs and changing them would have been a major operation.

“They had used newspaper to pad them. They were all local Chicago papers dated between 1928, when we think the table was built, and 1931 when the batteries were last changed.”

Mr Walder-Smith paid $5000 for the table and has now sold it to a wealthy collector, whom he says bought it for its novelty value.